1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to methods and configurations pertaining to microelectronic topography processing chambers and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus configurations for affecting movement of fluids within a microelectronic topography processing chamber and further to a method for passivating hardware within a microelectronic topography processing chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
It is generally advantageous to avoid contamination of microelectronic devices during processing and, as such, many processes are performed within chambers shielded from sources of particles, humidity, and oxidizing atmospheres. In some cases, however, processes performed upon microelectronic topographies and/or the chamber itself may be a source of contamination. For example, deposition processes may be apt to deposit films upon components of a chamber as well as the microelectronic topography intended for the film deposition. In some cases, the adherence of a film to the components of the chamber may be weak and, therefore, the film may be susceptible to breaking off during the deposition process or during subsequent deposition processes, either of which may lead to contamination of a microelectronic topography. In addition or alternatively, a build-up of films on interior surfaces of a chamber may be susceptible to flaking and, thus, may undesirably contaminate more and more microelectronic topographies over time. Film deposition upon chamber components may be particularly incidental in electroless plating processes. In particular, pretreatment processes used for activating a surface to be plated by electroless deposition techniques may also activate hardware within the plating chamber and, consequently, the hardware may be plated with a film.
Another common problem with wet chemistry deposition processes, such as electroless plating or electroplating, for example, is propensity to form a film of non-uniform thickness. In particular, a wet chemistry deposition process may be susceptible to the formation of gas bubbles on the surface of the topography, which may be due in part to the evolution of hydrogen during the reduction-oxidation of the process and/or by a high level of hydrophobicity within the substrate of the wafer. The gas bubbles prevent a material from being deposited uniformly upon a substrate surface, potentially depositing a layer outside the thickness variation specifications of the process. In some embodiments, non-uniformity of thickness within a film deposited from wet chemistry deposition techniques may be additionally or alternatively caused by a lack of uniformity of deposition solution distribution across a microelectronic topography. For example, in embodiments in which a dispense arm or a shower head is used to dispense a deposition solution upon a microelectronic topography, more of the solution may lie in the region of dispensement than in other areas of the topography. In some cases, the lack of solution distribution from the dispense arm or showerhead is resolved by rotating the microelectronic topography during the deposition process. Rotation of the topography, however, requires continuous delivery of the process solution, increasing solution consumption and, in turn, increasing manufacturing costs and environmental detriments.
It would, therefore, be desirable to develop chamber configurations and methods for uniformly distributing a deposition solution across a microelectronic topography without considerably increasing the consumption of solution during processing. In addition, it would be beneficial for such configurations and methods to inhibit the formation of bubbles on surfaces of microelectronic topographies. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to develop a method for passivating hardware of a microelectronic process chamber such that films may be prevented from being deposited thereon.